Overnight exhaust controversy at Worlds

Following an official protest by the Italian team during the final round of qualifying yesterday, Sirio drivers, who make up 3 of the top 4 drivers will no longer be allowed to use the latest version of the Sirio #2611 exhaust pipe. The protest which was pushed by Novarossi was originally not accepted however at what we understand was a very heated 1:10 Section meeting last night at the official hotel for the event, IFMAR made the descision to issue the following statement late last night which means that the new version of the #2611 pipe, as used by Jilles Groskamp to TQ, may no longer be used. This statement was only received by team managers this morning at the track –

During the end of the last round of qualifying IFMAR received a protest against the Sirio 2611 muffler.

The Protest was not accepted due to the wording in the Protest.

However, based on a discussion at the 1/10th Section meeting, held on Thursday evening the IFMAR committee has decided that from Friday 15th, on the pipe 2611 in its new version/layout is not allowed.
There are 2 versions in the market from the 2611 pipe, but IFMAR has no information about a changed in the design of this muffler and will only accept the old version.

The results from qualifying will remain as it is.

The old version has a normal tailpipe of about 16mm with a striaght design.
The new muffler design has a shorter tailpipe of abut 12mm and a thicker wall with a conical design.

On behalf of IFMAR

Dallas Mathiessen, President

Sander de Graaf, IFMAR IC Section Chairman

We looked for a statement from Andrea Rossi but the Sirio boss asked us to come back later and he and his support team worked on a solution for their driver for the finals. Jilles Groskamp who is TQ for the event ahead of his Sirio team mate Chris Tosolini said he did not know enough about the situation to comment, but did say all he wants is to race a legal car and enjoy a fair race for the World title.

We will bring you further news and comments as thing unfold but right now things appear rather hectic in the manufacturers village.